librarian-in-arms: the career of john g. stephenson

Librarian-in-Arms: The Career of John G. StephensonAuthor(s): Richard G. WoodSource: The Library Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Oct., 1949), pp. 263-269Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4303804 .

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LIBRARIAN-IN-ARMS: THE CAREER OF JOHN G. STEPHENSON

RICHARD G. WOOD

IN THE lobby of the Library of Con- gress letters of gold proclaim the names of its libranrans since the

founding, among them that of John G. Stephenson, i86i-64. The bare marble wall tells almost all that is known of his career. The card catalog of this great library shows nothing under his name, and the Dictionary of American Biography does not number him among Americans who achieved fame. The standard history of the Library of Congress" devotes only a page to Stephenson's administration, perhaps because the archives of the Li- brary for this period are so meager. The very paucity of the material, however, has been a challenge, and it is hoped that this paper will add a few facts to those already known about Stephenson's career.

John Gould Stephenson was born in Lancaster, New Hampshire,2 on March i, 1828, the son of Reuben and Mary K. Stephenson. There were also a sister, Deb- orah G., and a brother, Oliver G.3 Reu- ben Stephenson, the father, was a prominent man of affairs in Lancaster. He was selectman (1830-32, i834-37, I839-40, I846-47); deputy sheriff (1839); sheriff (I850); and an incorporator of Lancaster Academy, where his son John attended

school.4 At this institution young John exercised a flair for amateur theatricals when he played the part of Fontrailles in Richelieu. On the lighter side he appeared as Frank Webber in an offering by Judge Nelson Cross known as College Life. He continued his academic career at the New Hampshire Medical Institution and at Castleton Medical College and received a doctorate in medicine from the latter on November 23, I849.s

Although Stephenson became a doctor at the age of twenty-one, it is not known how soon he took up his practice in In- diana. The Census of 185o listed him as a physician, aged twenty-two, in Lan- caster, New Hampshire.6 In I85I he had a card in the Terre Haute newspapers.7 By implication he has been linked with Cincinnati, but there is considerable doubt about his residence there.8 The Terre Haute directory listed him in

I William 0. Johnston, History of the Library of Congress, I (Washington: Government Printing Of- fice, 1904), 383.

2Personnel File of John G. Stephenson, Decem- ber, I88i, Records of the Pension Office, National Archives.

3 "Returns of the Census of i85o, New Hamp- shire, Coos County" (MS in National Archives), IV, 133.

4 A. N. Somers, History of Lancaster, New Hamp- shire (Concord, I889), pp. 541, 4I6, 537.

s Personnel File, Stephenson. 6 "Returns of the Census of i8So.....

7 Letter from Florence Crawford, librarian, Eve- line Fairbanks Memorial Library, Terre Haute, to author, February 26, I948. Dr. C. N. Coombs, who is writing a history of Terre Haute physicians, states that there was a card in I847, but, in view of Ste- phenson's age, this seems too early.

t Ains-worth Rand Spofford I825-I908: A Memo- rial Meding at the Library of Congress on Thursday, November Z2, 1908, at Four O'Clock (New York: [Columbia Historical Society], I909), p. 20, makes both Stephenson and Spofford members of the famed Cincinnati Literary Club, but Virginius C. Hall, di- rector of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, writes (March I3, I948) that the roster does not show Stephenson as a member.

263



264 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY

i858,9 and it is safe to assume that Ste- phenson was established in that city during the decade prior to the Civil War. Ste- phenson himself, in i86i, referred to Vigo County as the place "where I have lived and practiced Physic & Surgery for ten years.""'

Stephenson early became interested in the Republican party and in I858 was an "efficient speaker" in Lincoln's behalf during the contest with Douglas.," He was one of Lincoln's earliest supporters for the presidential nomination at the Chicago convention," exerting influence upon the Kentucky delegation.'3 After Lincoln's nomination, Stephenson not only was active in Indiana but took the stump in eastern Illinois.'4

At some point in his career John Gould Stephenson decided that he would like to be the next librarian of Congress. The first letter in his campaign is dated as early as November 27, i86o, when a sup- porter wrote to Lincoln that "Dr. Jno G. Stephenson of Terre Haute is a candi- date for Librarian to the Congressional Library, is a true Republican, and will make a faithful and competent officer should he receive the appointment, and I recommend him to your favorable con- sideration."i5 Other testimonials followed

during the winter and spring. In the typical pattern of recommendation John G. Stephenson was described as "dis- tinguished for his agreeable manners,",6 "a Republican of the working kind,"'7 and "gratifying to the Republicans of this locality."'8 Nine physicians and one dentist of Terre Haute wrote in his behalf.'9 Senator H. S. Lane of Indiana told the President that Stephenson's appointment would be satisfactory.20

Stephenson, evidently feeling that the stage was now set, came to Washington 2

and, on May 7, i86i, wrote to the Presi- dent urging his own appointment. He be- gan by pointing out that the approach of a session of Congress did not allow much time for a new librarian to familiarize himself with the position. Next, he brought forward his own claim by stat- ing that his qualifications were "ample," that he had been "an earnest and con- tinuous laborer in the Cause that tri- umphed in your election," that he was "amongst the earliest advocates in In- diana of your nomination to the Presi- dency by the Republican Party," that nearly all the prominent Republicans of

9 Letter from Florence Crawford; D. Mearns, in "The Story Up to Now," Annual Report of the Li- brarian of Congress for the Fiscal Year Ending June 20, 1946, p. 83, found Stephenson listed as physician and surgeon in the Indiana Business Directory for I858-59.

Ia Letter from Stephenson to Lincoln, May 7, i86I, "Lincoln Collection," XLIV (Library of Con- gress), 9790.

xx Letter from William P. Dole to Lincoln, March I6, i86I, "Lincoln Collection," XXXVII, 8i85.

12Thomas H. Nelson to Lincoln, March 13, I86r, "Lincoln Collection," XXXVII, 8072.

X3 J. W. Calvert to Lincoln, January 4, i86i, "Lincoln Collection," XXV, 5723. (Calvert was a delegate from the Third District of Kentucky.)

14 Dole to Lincoln, op. cit.; Nelson to Lincoln, op. cit.

IS Letter from S. B. Gookin to Lincoln, November 27, x86o, "Lincoln Collection," XXI, 4672.

I6 Letter from W. Gilpin to Lincoln, March 30, i86i, "Lincoln Collection," XXXIX, 8499.

17 Letter from James H. McNeely, editor of the Evansville Journal, to Lincoln, April 3, i86i, "Lin- coln Collection," XL, 8727.

I8 Letter from E. B. Alle, auditor of Vigo County, to Lincoln, February i8, I86i, "Lincoln Collection," XXXIII, 740I.

'9 Letters to Lincoln, [March], I86i, "Lincoln Collection," XXXIX, 86oi.

20 Letter from H. S. Lane to Lincoln, March 6, I86i, "Lincoln Collection," XXXV, 7825.

2z The town history (Somers, op. cit., p. 419) al- leges that Stephenson was on the inaugural train which brought Lincoln to Washington; but Stephen- son's name is not mentioned by Coggeshall, Jour- neys of Abraham Lincoln ... (Columbus, i865), pp. 25-26, or by Pinkerton, History and Evidence of the Passage of Abraham Lincoln from Harrisburg, Pa. to Washington, D.C. (New York, 1907).



THE CAREER OF JOHN G. STEPHENSON 265

Indiana including the senator and governor had indorsed him, that his sacri- fices during the campaign had left him in a "pecuniary condition that will be great- ly relieved by you granting the applica- tion," and that the Honorable Caleb B. Smith would further indorse him. As his final point he mentioned a conversation between Lincoln and R. W. Thompson in March, i86i.22

It is not known how many rivals John Stephenson had for the position of librarian of Congress, but at least three men wrote to President Lincoln advo- cating the candidacy of Hezekiah L. Hosmer of Toledo.23

At any rate, the pleas of the politi- cians prevailed, for President Lincoln wrote the State Department for Stephen- son's commission,24 and his appointment bears the date of May 24, i86i.25 The man whom Stephenson displaced was John Silva Meehan who, in turn, had been President Jackson's appointee (I829) superseding the literary George Watterston.26

When John Gould Stephenson, at the age of thirty-three, became fifth in the succession of librarians of Congress, the Library, located in the Capitol, had sur- vived a disastrous fire a decade before but had been rehabilitated.27 Congression- al appropriations had increased slightly

in the ten years before the Civil War.2B When Stephenson acceded to the li- brarianship, the annual salary was $2,i60. His first assistant received $i,8oo, as did the second and third assistants, and the messenger's salary was $I,440.29 Originally designed to serve the national legislature, "by sufferance the Library of Congress had already become a public library of reference."30 But Stephenson did not have to cope with this problem, because attendance at the Library of Congress declined during the Civil War.31

The paucity of records makes it diffi- cult to tell how vigorously Stephenson entered upon the duties of his new office.v Not many of the letters of this period were signed by him; his assistants, Edward B. Stelle and Ainsworth Rand Spofford, sometimes signed in his stead. Many of the librarian's duties fell upon Spofford during Stephenson's absences.

During the summer and autumn of i86i Stephenson was occupied with the routine of library business. He sent medals damaged by the fire of i85I to the Smithsonian Institution to be re- paired,;33 he picked up the thread of cor- respondence with Edward Allen, the Li- brary's book agent in London ;34 he pre- pared the budget ($30,42I.50) for the fiscal year I863 ;35 he closed the Library

22 Letter from J. G. Stephenson to Lincoln, May 7, I86i, "Lincoln Collection," XLIV, 979091.

23Letter from Richard Mott to Lincoln (March xI, I6Ix), Kinsley Bingham to Lincoln (March 30, I86I), R. G. Corwin to Lincoln (March 9, x86I), "Lincoln Collection," XXXVI, 798I; XXXIX, 8487; XXXVI, 7932.

24 Letter from Lincoln to Secretary of State, May 23, I86I (Department of State Appointment Papers, National Archives).

25 "List of Librarians of Congress, Department of State Miscellaneous Officers' Letterbook," No. I, p. I64 (National Archives).

6 Johnston, op. cit., pp. I89 ff. 27 Ibid., pp. 275-301.

28 1IN., pp. sI-i 6. " List of annual salaries, June 30, I862 (L.C.

Letters Sent: I859-I862).

30 Mearns, op. cit., p. 82.

3' Johnston, op. cit., p. 383. 32 Only one letter received in the period 186i-64

is extant in the Library of Congress archives. This is a book list. The letters sent fall into two volumes: I859-62 and I862-65.

33 Letter from Stephenson to Joseph Henry, August 6, i86i (L.C. Letters Sent).

34 Letter from Stephenson to Edward Allen, Au- gUSt 20, i86I (ibid.).

3S Undated but signed by Stephenson (ibd.).




from September 9 to October I ;36 during the summer of i86i he found time to minister to members of the Nineteenth Indiana Regiment who were ill at a tem- porary hospital set up in the Patent Office building.37 When he wrote Ed- ward Allen in London, Stephenson sounded a hopeful note regarding rela- tions between the two countries and thought that the conflict would be over in another year.38 Six months later he wrote in like vein:

We hope the friends of liberal government everywhere are glad to see the manifestations of positive power which the Republic is now making and surely the majority of the English people will not regret our success-and ought not to regret that the experiment of free government which we have been engaged in for more than eighty years is about to end successfully.39

Stephenson registered his discontent with the Library administration in a report of December, i86i. He deplored the lack of modem reference works, the in- adequacy of the newspaper file, the ac- cumulation of duplicates, missing volumes, and even a carpet left uncleaned for three years. In his next report Ste- phenson did not have so much to deplore, because he had tidied up a lot in the meantime, but he expressed the need for more shelf space (to provide for the annual increase of 6,ooo books) and for a messenger with a horse and wagon to carry books to the homes of members of Congress; he mentioned having sent Spofford on a book-buying expedition to several northern cities and also the fact that he had reduced binding costs.40

But, if the disorder of the Meehan administration was a trial to a tidy soul like Stephenson's, the bakenres set up in the basement of the Capitol, the smoke from which deposited soot on the volumes in the Library of Congress, were an even greater one. Under the authority of Gen- eral Winfield Scott "by express permis- sion of the President," the Capitol had been occupied by troops, provisions were brought in, and the building was made ready for defense.41 Dr. Stephenson protested vigorously:

I am pained to see the treasure intrusted to my care-a treasure that money cannot replace -receiving great damage from the smoke and soot that penetrate everywhere through that part of the Capitol which is under my charge, without any means at my command to prevent it. I am now satisfied that there is no remedy, except the removal of the circle of bakeries that hems us in and those directly under the library.4P

B. B. French, commissioner of public buildings, concurred with Stephenson and suggested that the War Department move the bakeries to the Old Gas House just west of the Capitol.43 The Senate took cognizance of the nuisance, and Senator Foot requested that a previous resolution regarding the bakeries be taken up. "The observation of every Sena- tor," he said, "will bear testimony to the immense injury that is being done by the soot and fumes and smoke of these bak- enes to the Congressional Library." And he bluntly asked the senators if they wished the "Capitol of the United States, the most costly and expensive building upon the American Continent, to be con- verted into a smoke-house and a bak- ery."44 In the House, Representative

36 National Intelligencer, September 26, i86i. 37 Meams, op. cit., p. 94, citing a dispatch of A. R.

Spofford to the Cincinnati Commercial, September 17, i86i.

38 Letter from Stephenson to Edward Allen, De- cember 20, i86I (L.C. Letters Sent).

39 Letter from Stephenson to Allen, June 9, x862 (ibid.).

40 Mearns, op. cit., pp. 83-86.

41 Senate Misc. Doc. No. 8 (37th Cong., 2d sess.; ser. 1124), pp. 3-4.

42 Ib., p. 2.

43 Ibid., pp. 2-3.

44 Congressional Globe (37th Cong., 2d sess.; Senate), February 3, I862, p. 607.




Train tried to have that body concur with the Senate's resolution for the removal of the bakeries, citing the fact that it was impossible to heat the Li- brary of Congress when the bakeries were in operation because the military had built a flue into the flue of the Li- brary furnace. Mr. Train stated the al- ternatives: "Now, if it is of more conse- quence to Congress that these gentlemen shall be allowed to bake their bread in the Capitol than it is to preserve the Congressional Library, then you will vote this resolution down." Nevertheless, the resolution was voted down.45 The Senate was an interested party because the smoke contaminated its chamber too. On one occasion the smoke threatened to drive the members to adjournment. Sen- ator Fessenden exclaimed sarcastically: "I think it advisable to request the House, since their patriotism will not allow them to have the bakeries removed, to remove them over to their side."46

As the spring and summer of I862 drifted by without action on the part of the War Department, the commissioner of public buildings, B. B. French, entered the picture and asked the secretary of war why the bakeries were still in the Capitol after Congress had made an appropriation for their removal. French's painters had reported the uselessness of painting the smoke-infested rooms.47 French went a step further and protested to the President, ending his pleas with the words: "You alone possess the power to enable to cary [sic] into effect the law of Congress." 8 Next, he wrote the acting

secretary of the interior, declaring that he needed the space for committee rooms.49 When this was of no avail, French and Stephenson called upon the President, who wrote a letter in their behalf. This was evidently an order, but it is missing from the records.s5 At any rate, the offending ovens were soon removed.5' Thus ended the battle of the bakeries.

Whenever he was there, Dr. Stephen- son devoted himself to the routine of the library. A storm damaged the Library roof and repair was necessary.52 A new floor was laid.53 The question of the with- holding tax on library salaries was dis- cussed with the commissioner of internal revenue.54 The War Department was requested to supply the Library with two copies of all general orders since the in- ception of the War Department.-" At least three years the Library was closed for a period during the hot weather.56

Shortly after the episode of the bakeries, Stephenson urged fireproof rooms for the Library of Congress,S7 and soon afterward the announcement was made

4SIbid., March 5, I862, p. Io84; March 24, I862, pp. 1341, 1347.

46 Ibid. , March 21, I862, p. I319.

47Letter from French to Stanton, August 25, I862, Commissioner of Public Buildings (Letters Sent, National Archives).

48 Letter from French to Lincoln, September 24, I862 (ibid.).

49 Letter from French to Usher, October 9, x862 (ibid.).

50 Letter from French to Stanton, October I4, I862 (ibid.).

5' Letter from French to Stanton, October 23, I862 (ibid.).

s2 Letter from French to Thaddeus Stevens, Com- mittee of Ways and Means, December 12, I862 (ibid.); letter from Stephenson to French, April 20,

I864 (L.C. Letters Sent). 53 Mearns, op. cit., p. 96; letter from Stephenson

to French, May io, I863, Commissioner of Public Buildings (Letters Received, National Archives).

S4 Letter from Stephenson to Lewis, July 20, I864 (L.C. Letters Sent).

ss Letter from Stephenson to Stanton, October 26, I863 (AGO, Letters Received, 1209 S. 1863, Nation- al Archives).

56 National Intelligencer, September 26, i86i; July 24, I862; July 3, I863.

57 Letter from Stephenson to French, November 20, I862 (L.C. Letters Sent).




that the commissioner of public buildings had recommended an enlargement of the Library of Congress. This information was accompanied by the under- statement: "It is not anticipated, however, that action will be taken upon the subject at the present session of Con- gress."58 But Stephenson continued to press for action. "More than half of the existing collection of books," he declared, "is exposed to destruction by a repetition of the fire of r85I (which con- sumed 30,000 volumes) because neces- sarily stored in rooms & passages outside the main Library, which is fireproof."59 His assistant, Spofford, next brought forward examples to justify the request. For instance, the British parliamentary documents of some 3,ooo volumes were piled on the floor, yet they were in daily use. Only about one-half of the 87,000 volumes were in the fireproof section; the re- mainder were "stored in the dark corners and passageways of the old Capitol sur- rounded by woodwork and liable to ac- cident, from the firing of a flue which was the occasion of the former fire, or other cause." He declared that there was not ten feet of room for periodicals and newspapers. The number of books, he reported, had quadrupled during the period i852-64. In conclusion, he averred that the Library had had only one carpet in eleven years.6

It can be argued that Stephenson did the Library of Congress neither harm nor good during his administration.6' Ac- tually, he was absent from that institution with the army for considerable pe- riods. We have seen that he gave his services to hospitalized members of the

Nineteenth Indiana Volunteers during the summer of i86i. This was on a vol- untary basis, for he tells us in his own words: "I never enlisted, and was never commissioned in the military or naval service of the United States, but during a part of i86i served as acting naval surgeon of the igth Ind. Vols. and in I863 served with the Army of the Poto- mac as a volunteer aid de camp with my militia rank of Colonel, participating in the battle of Fitzhugh Crossing, Chan- cellorsville and Gettysburg.' 62 It is not known what his exploits were in the first two encounters, but he won a citation for his efforts at the Battle of Gettysburg. Major General Abner Doubleday, com- manding the Third Division, First Army Corps, stated in his report: "Colonel [John G.] Stephenson, Librarian of Con- gress, acted as volunteer aide to General Meredith. He exposed himself freely on all occasions, and rendered many services."63 The basis for the title of "colonel" in the above citation must rest upon Stephenson's connection with the In- diana militia, because there is no service record for Stephenson among the records of the Adjutant General's Office. More- over, militia service is the most that Stephenson ever claimed for himself.64

On December 22, I864, John G. Ste- phenson submitted his resignation as librarian effective December 3i, and Ains-

58 National Intelligencer, January 29, I863.

59 Letter from Stephenson to Thaddeus Stevens, February 8, i864 (L.C. Letters Sent).

60 Mearns, op. cit., pp. Ioo-ioi.

6I Ibid

62 Personnel File of John G. Stephenson, Decem- ber 6, i88i (Records of the Pension Office, National Archives).

63 The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, XXVII, Part I, 256.

64 Personnel File, Stephenson; the Indiana Ar- chives report (May 8, 1948) that Governor Morton, on January io, I862, directed the Indiana secretary of state to issue a commission in the Legion to Stephenson. The Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana (Indianapolis, i865-69), II, xi, men- tions that a "Jno. D. Stephenson" was appointed special aide-de-camp on January io, I862 (which is the date of Norton's request also).




worth Rand Spofford was commissioned as of this date.65 It has been stated that Stephenson was a participant in "specu- lations created by the War,"66 but no de- tails have been found, except for a pos- sible connection with an act of 1872 com- pensating Edward G. Allen, the Library's London agent, for the sum of $x,48o, "of which sum he was unjustly defrauded by the conduct of the Librarian in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-three."67 It is not known whether Stephenson re- turned to Indiana or remained in Wash- ington for the period following his resignation, but he was living in Washington in i870.68 At some time, it appears, "he held the post of clerk to the District Legislature."69 We are on firmer ground when we come to his appointment as medical reviewer at the Pension Office.

He was appointed to this position on November I6, i88i, at an annual salary of $I,60070 and received a promotion on October 7, I882. Thirteen months later he was dead at the home of Captain Albert Grant.7' Members of the old First Army Corps with whom Stephenson had served met at the Metropolitan Method- ist Church on Capitol Hill72 to express regret and to plan the funeral. Stephenson lies buried in an unmarked grave in the Congressional Cemetery.73

65 "Department of State Miscellaneous Officers' Letterbook," No. i, p. I64 (National Archives).

6Johnston, op. cit., p. 383. 67 Statutes at Large, XVII, 686. 68 Census of I870, District of Columbia (Wad 4),

II, 414 (MS).

69 Mention in death notice in the Evening Star (Washington), November 12, I883. It should be pointed out, however, that this obituary contained two errors. Washington residence in I877 is attested by two court cases in which Stephenson was a party in a dispute over the possession of furniture: Law Case No. i817sI and Equity Case No. 5936 in the records of the Supreme Court of the District of Co- lumbia. (These were called to my attention by H. B. Fant.)

70 Service card in Personnel File, Pension Office, February 26, I883.

71 Evening Star (Washington), November I2,

1883. 72 ibid., November 14, I 883. 73 Grave No. 244, Ra6, Records of the Congres-

sional Cemetery.



librarian-in-arms: the career of john g. stephenson

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